


You know the tune so the words don’t matter

by the3ofchalices



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Freddie teaches grade 11 chemistry and Willy works at Starbucks, Angst and love and Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22123921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the3ofchalices/pseuds/the3ofchalices
Summary: Willy is in a teal jacket and a grape tuque. He is chewing on the zipper sticking straight up out of his collar. There are little pink half-moons under his eyelids. Willy’s little straight teeth peek out from his crooked smile.“Sup Fred.”
Relationships: Frederik Andersen/William Nylander
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	You know the tune so the words don’t matter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mozartspiano](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozartspiano/gifts), [mrsbarlow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrsbarlow/gifts).

> happy new year to s & g, & happy birthday to s, i love you both very much!
> 
> this is just two dumbo holiday love birds & for once it's only moderately angsty.  
title from Orville Peck's "Queen of the Rodeo"

Snowflakes are belly flopping onto Freddie’s bedroom window, making soft crinkling noises as they collide with the glass and then melt from the warmth. Light is starting to stream inside through the blinds. His room is chilly and crisp on his face. And then he hears the knocking on the front door again, the noise that woke him. He opens his eyes. It’s 8:24. 

If Auston needs help with his goddamn Christmas shopping again he’s going to smack him. Close the door on his face. Goodbye. Drive your fucking self to Nordstrom and hold your own god forsaken Starbucks as you peruse the scarves. 

Freddie rips his duvet off him and winces when he feels how cold the floor is. God dammit Auston on a Saturday morning. The knocking starts again when he hobbles sleepily through the living room to the front door. And now it’s not stopping. It’s getting louder and faster. Not banging, but incessant and desperate. 

Willy is in a teal jacket and a grape tuque. He is chewing on the zipper sticking straight up out of his collar. There are little pink half-moons under his eyelids. Willy’s little straight teeth peek out from his crooked smile. 

“Sup Fred.” 

**

Freddie grabs the tongs and flips the bacon. Willy gets the plates from the cupboard and pours the coffee, then he shuffles behind Freddie to pass him the spatula for the eggs. Freddie pokes him in the side as a thank you. 

“You’ve got no forks left.” Willy says as he closes the drawer. 

“Yeah, I forgot to put the dishwasher on last night, can you wash a few?” Willy hums and reaches for the dish soap. From where Freddie is in front of the stove, Willy and him are back to back. He looks over his shoulder anyways, thinking that maybe he can feel out the situation just by looking at Willy’s shoulders as he scrubs. Willy’s focused and quiet, but not really giving anything else away. 

Willy settles in one of the stools at the island to eat, cheek resting on a hand like he has a tooth ache. Freddie keeps his plate on the counter to eat standing. 

“S’good,” Willy mumbles through his toast. 

Freddie nods. He moves his eggs around in his plate. His stomach is all knotted. For some reason this knot feels like it’s being added to a twist that had already started developing. Like how when you try to undo a knot in your shoelaces, you almost need to make it worse to make it better. But if the knot has been there for a while, you also need to struggle through calcium or just too many times the fabric has gotten wet, dried, and crusted. And maybe you’ve already tried to undo this knot too many times to care and you’ve just accepted that it’s there and you learn to live with it. Or more like live around it. 

Freddie always feels a little knotted when Willy’s around, but seeing him like this, in a soft gray sweater, eating his eggs on his stool in his apartment, obviously upset about something. Freddie’s stomach flips. He’s really not that hungry anymore. 

“You gonna finish there?” Willy raises his eyebrows. 

“Nah buddy, go for it.” He pushes his plate towards him and Willy lets out a content grumble. 

Freddie chews on his bottom lip and mentally tries to start his sentence a few times. What are you doing here, Willy? What happened? Do you want to talk about it? He settles for something a little less confrontational.

“Do you want to go skating?”

**

Freddie cups his hands over his mouth and blows. He does that a few times before rubbing his hands together and shifting his butt on the seat of the bench a little. 

Willy tucks his head deeper into his tuque and keeps his hands on the rim of his knit hat when he looks up at Freddie. 

“It’s a bit nippy, don’t you think?” Willy says as he blinks snowflakes out of his eyelashes. 

“If you’re cold, we can go home.” Freddie says carefully. He doesn’t want to go home, but shit he can’t feel his toes and he still has to put his skates on. 

Willy lets out a small breath and chuckles as he looks out on the empty ice rink. He shuffles closer to Freddie on the bench and puts his arm around him. Freddie groans through a shiver. 

“We just need to get moving and we’ll be okay.” 

“Uh huh.”

“We need some fresh air Fred, this is good for us. Breathe in that crisp winter air!” Willy takes in a breath and promptly grabs his nose and groans. Freddie smirks and moves really close to his face.

“It burns doesn’t it.” Freddie says. Willy sniffles and clears his throat. 

“It’s fine. Just don’t breathe in that hard. You’ll catch a cold.” Willy says as he smiles big and starts shucking his boots off and putting his feet into his skates. Freddie shoves his shoulder and when Willy protests and shoves back, Freddie chuckles and starts to put on his skates too. 

It’s hard to tie laces with mitts on, so Freddie pulls them off and keeps tying with his bare hands. Willy is diligently tying his own skates, but steals glances at Freddie’s hands, with their pink backs and white knuckles. Freddie flexes his hands a few times to get the blood flowing again and glares at Willy when he notices that he is being watched.

“I’m telling you, it’s humid today, man,” Freddie complains. 

“It is, but it kind of reminds me of home.” Willy says as he finishes the bow on his skate. 

“Yeah, me too I guess.” Freddie tucks his hands in his armpits and looks out onto the rink. A squirrel hops through the untouched snow by the trees, like a dolphin playing in the waves a boat made. The squirrel makes soft crunching noises with every movement, sending little tuffs of snow as he goes. 

Without so much as a glance at Freddie, Willy stands up and kneels down next to Freddie’s foot and starts tying the laces. When Freddie realizes what is happening, his stomach flip flops again. He stops himself from reacting weirdly to his suddenly tingly leg by digging his fingers deeper into his sides. Hopefully it looks like he’s just cold. 

Willy nudges Freddie’s other knee so that he can straighten that leg a little for Willy to start tying his other skate. A huge shiver runs through Freddie. Both because of Willy and the cold, if he’s completely honest. Willy definitely felt it because he looks up at Freddie, all fond. 

“Aw, Fred. I would have thought someone your size was a big foot in another life. You know, live in the snow, hunt for your own food, totally removed from civilization and don’t have to talk to anyone and just live your grumpy life in the mountains.” Willy reaches up and puts his hands on Freddie’s arms and rubs. Freddie forgets himself in the touch and smiles, soft and lazy. It is a little intimidating when Willy looks at him like this. His blue eyes huge and warm, looking right through him. Suddenly Willy’s hands freeze in place and Freddie just stares back. Stares right into the abyss of warmth. Dammit. Freddie reaches down and puts his hands on either side of Willy’s face too easily. Too naturally. If something is going to happen, Freddie knows it shouldn’t happen today. Not before Willy tells him what the hell is going on. 

“Willy were you a reindeer in another life? You know, live in the snow, with your shiny coat,” he says as he gently tugs at a lock of hair sticking out from under Willy’s tuque and Willy stays very still. “And little red nose,” he adds with a flick to Willy’s nose, breaking the spell. Freddie is very dignified, he swears it. Willy slaps Freddie’s hands away. It’s very cute. Freddie tackles him and hulls him back onto the bench.

“Hey, let go!” Willy yells.

“But you’re so warm,” Freddie pouts. Willy smells like snow and pine trees, but they are so close and Freddie just can’t do this. He needs to know what is going on. Right before he can ask, Willy is scrambling free and getting back on his skated feet. 

“Let’s go, Elsa,” Willy shrieks as he blots out onto the ice. It was still empty. Too windy for any kids or families. 

Willy sprints his first lap and lets himself glide through the second. Freddie catches up and then they are skating side by side in silence for a while. 

“What’s the best place to skate at home?” Freddie asks. 

“My dad used to make us a skating rink during the holidays when he was home. It would take him the whole morning, and then some. And the sun sets at like 2 so we had to mostly wait until the next morning to really enjoy it.” 

“Got out there with all your sisters and your brother?” 

“Yeah, it was the best when my sisters were really small. They would just scramble around Alex and me.”

“We’re both lucky our families are obsessed with hockey, otherwise they would find us really freaking annoying.”

Willy snorts. 

“Are you heading home for Christmas? To see everybody?” Freddie asks. 

“Nope. I couldn’t get the time off work.” Willy says it so casually, but there’s something in his voice that just breaks Freddie’s heart. 

“Oh Willy, that fucking sucks.” 

“It’s okay,” Willy pats Freddie on the shoulder, “Plane tickets are stupid expensive at this time of year anyways. What about you, are you heading home?”

“Yeah, on the 22nd… and they couldn’t come here?” 

“It’s much easier to coordinate 1 person travelling versus 6 people. But really it’s fine,” Willy smiles and links his arm in Freddie’s, “So how much hockey are you gonna get to do when you’re home?”

“Hopefully a little more than usual. My grade 11’s just finished a unit on chemical reactions and the grading is kicking my ass.” 

“Yeah you were definitely slacking at that last game. Let in a few more of Auston’s goals than you usually do.”

Freddie glares at Willy. They both play for the Sugar Kings, a team in the DMHL in Toronto. Auston plays for the Zig Zags, which is a dumb name, and both Freddie and Willy enjoy talking trash with him. 

Freddie tries to trip Willy as he says, “Do you remember that move you pulled? When you forgot to stop and slammed right into your own goalie? That kind of makes it hard to stop the puck.” 

“At least I’m not frolicking with the enemy.”

“Pardon?”

“I know you went Christmas shopping with Auston. You big jerk.”

“It was the worst, Will, I regret it all.”

“Traitor,” Willy whispers dramatically.

“You make me want to mark science reports Will.” 

“That hurts, Fred.”

“Good.” 

“So what’s next? Are you gonna make the kiddos dissect frogs like a monster?”

“No that’s in biology. We need to review the basics of conducting an experience. I’ve got a group of boys who really love to play with fire - literally - and it’s freaking me out.”

“Cool!” 

“Not cool Willy. Children. Flames. Angry parents.” 

“I can’t picture you disciplining a group of teenagers. Do you just grunt and glare at them when they do something wrong?”

Freddie deadpans. “I try to get them engaged with the material and want to come to class. You know, be motivated and shit.” 

“Aww you’re such a good teacher!” Willy hugs Freddie. Well, the more accurate way to describe it is that he squeezes his arms over Freddie’s elbows until he starts laughing and losing his balance.

They’ve done about a dozen laps at this point and Freddie is starting to feel his limbs again. Soft, fluffy snowflakes are falling slowly all around them in silence. Some of them have started to nest on Willy’s tuque like he is wearing a snow crown. 

“So you’re working a lot during the holidays?” Freddie asks carefully, not wanting to rub salt in the wound, but he really wants to know if Willy is okay with everything. Willy has reverted back to having one arm hooked on Freddie’s and he lets out a big sigh. 

“Yeah, I guess so. Some people have taken some time off so they needed someone to cover them. It could be a good thing, might put me in my boss’ good books that I did this favour for her.” 

“I’m sure you’re great at your job, though. I swear flocks of girls go out of their way to go to your particular Starbucks. For obvious reasons.” Freddie smirks and Willy blushes.

“Shut up, it took me ages to be able to make a good Frappuccino and I’m still trying to memorize the secret menu. I usually just flirt with the customer until someone else can make the drink if I get stuck.” Willy shrugs. 

“At least you’re good at thinking on your feet, I would freeze up.”

“Says the guy who teaches kids how to make fire. But you’ll be fine Freddie, you’ve got a career going for you. And you like it.”

“You’ll get there, Will. It takes time.” 

“All I know is that I like playing hockey with you twice a week. If that could be my steady job for the rest of my life, I’d be just fine.”

Well shit what does that mean.

Willy takes a deep breath. “I went out on another date with that swimmer I was telling you about.”

Freddie tries really hard not to stiffen at that. 

“And?”

“It was a disaster. I don’t think he ever wants to see me again.” 

Freddie waits for Willy to say more, but he doesn’t. They go around the rink for a bit before Freddie asks, “so you don’t really want to talk about it, huh?”

“It’s kind of a bummer, I don’t want to ruin our skate.”

Freddie said that it wouldn’t. He asks if Willy is okay and he says that he is. Of course he’s upset but he says that being with Freddie is cheering him up.

“You know what could cheer you up even more.”

“What’s that, big fella?”

“Hot chocolate and Jenga at my place.”

“Fuck yes! Let’s go, what are we still doing here!” Willy starts pushing Freddie faster around the rink.

**

They’re in their third game of Jenga when Willy brings up the boy again. They’re both sitting on the rug in the living room on either side of the coffee table. 

Willy is dunking a cinnamon stick into his mug over and over again. His eyes are transfixed on the movement as he starts swirling the treat around in circles. 

“I think I’m kind of having a crisis,” Willy says without looking up from the mess of hot chocolate he is making. 

“Well I mean, I’ve seen your Instagram,” Freddie shoots back without missing a beat. 

Willy gapes at him.

“Your fashion choices are really questionable sometimes.”

“Frederick you’re so mean, I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you and --” He gets interrupted when a pillow hits him in the face. The hot chocolate somehow survives. 

“What’s happening?” Freddie settles next to Willy.

“I feel like I’ll never be able to commit myself to something. Like, what job or what person is ever going to be what I really want? How am I going to know?”

“When you want to take that risk, I guess.” 

Willy bites him lip and doesn’t say anything for a while. It’s not often that Willy is quiet, usually he is quite the opposite. Not that Freddie is complaining, he loves to listen. But he also has this feeling that these quiet moments today are important. That Willy needs this time to process something. And Freddie gets a warm feeling when he thinks about the fact that Willy decided to do that thinking with him. 

“When I found out I couldn’t get time off work to go home, I started going on so many dates. None of them were really that bad or that good, but I just kept going on them because I couldn’t stand being at home by myself. And Kappy was busy, so. I started hanging out with swimmer guy a lot and… he asked me to be his boyfriend last night and I kind of panicked.” 

“What’d you say?” It would be a big lie to say that Freddie isn’t a little stressed. 

“Oh, I said no, and then I left like uncomfortably fast… I might have said I needed to go wash my hair too.” 

“Willy that’s so bad.”

“I’m not proud of it.” Willy laughs softly and covers his face with his hands. Freddie cracks up which only makes Willy laugh more hysterically and he leans into Freddie’s chest. Freddie strokes his hair until he calms down.

“I feel like the only thing that’s been consistent in my life for the last few years is hockey and our team.”

Freddie hums and keeps playing with Willy’s hair. It’s gotten wispy from the tuque squishing it the whole day and he has little baby hairs curling near his ears. 

“Is that all there is for me, Freddie?” Willy’s voice sounds a little more hoarse now.

“Of course not babe. You can do whatever you want. You can wear all your stupid pants and scarves and grew your hair out like Legolas.” 

Willy huffs out a laugh and hiccups. 

“I just -- I feel like if I move too fast everything will collapse and then I’ll have nothing.” 

“That will never happen.” Freddie brushes the back of his hand on Willy’s cheek. Willy’s eyes are closed. 

“Promise?” Willy whispers.

“Promise,” Freddie says, “Come over here, I want to give you your Christmas present.”

All the gloominess on Willy’s face quickly disappears. “A present for me?” 

Freddie gets up and hands Willy a small box that was under the Christmas tree. It’s one of those hard shell boxes with a wide ribbon tied in a bow. Willy unwraps the ribbon and takes the top off. 

“Oh Freddie. It’s beautiful.” Willy unfolds the pocket square to reveal a painting of a cityscape surrounded by bright blue water. 

“It’s Stockholm. You can um…you can wear it if you miss home.” 

Willy puts the box down on the coffee table and tackles his way into Freddie’s arms.

“I love it,” he says into Freddie’s neck, “And I got you something too.” Willy digs through his coat hung up in the closet and pulls out a box wrapped in Santa Claus paper. It has one of those big crinkly red bows stuck on the top and Freddie tries to stick it on Willy’s nose when he takes it off.

“Oh, it’s a little nisse!” Freddie takes the mythical creature out of the box. It has a big white beard and a string on its hat so that it can be hung on a Christmas tree.

“Weird. We call them tomtenisse.” Willy reaches out to stroke the fluffy beard.

“Oh they’ve got so many names. My siblings and I used to hide these all over the house. I didn’t bring any with me when I moved. I’ve missed them. Thanks, Will.” Freddie wraps an arm around his shoulders. 

“If you ever miss home, you can just cuddle your new little goblin,” Willy chirps, “No but seriously, I like these little guys. They protect you and bring you good luck and stuff.” 

A little while later, Freddie leans on a wall close to the front door to watch Willy get his coat and boots on.

“When are you getting back?” Willy asks.

“The 30th. Do you have any New Year’s Eve plans?”

Willy shakes his head.

“Auston is coming over and we’re just chilling and playing video games if you want to join.” 

“To conspire with the traitor?” Willy’s grin is so mischievous and cute, Freddie just wants to rub it off him with his mouth. 

“Don’t come for him, come for me.” That was a lot bolder than Freddie anticipated it to be. Willy noticeably stumbles a little. “And um. You should bring Kappy -- if he’s free too.” They are both staring at each other very intently now.

“Yeah, um sure. I think he is. I’ll text you and let you know.” 

“Cool. Sounds good.”

“Okay.” Willy is still looking at him and Freddie is still looking back. “I guess I should be going, then.”

Fuck it.

“You know, if you want, we can skype at Christmas or something.” Freddie’s expecting to get chirped for being too sappy, or for taking pity on Willy being lonely. 

“That would be really nice, Freddie.” Willy smiles big and steps forward to hug him. Willy wraps his arms around his neck and pulls him closer. Freddie can feel Willy’s heart beating through his winter jacket. 

“I’ll see you soon, Will.” 

“So long, Fred.” 

**

They skype four times in the span of a week while Freddie is away. And the days they don’t talk, they are texting constantly. 

“What’s with the suit?” Freddie asks skype-Willy. 

“Mitch’s parents insisted I should come to their Christmas dinner tonight,” Willy tells Freddie.

“I’m glad you’re going.”

“Yeah, even if it was a bit of a pity invite, I like Mitch.”

“He’s a bro, you’ll have a great time.”

“Yeah,” Willy smiles and fixes his tie, “How do I look?”

“Nice. I like the blue,” Freddie says.

“Thanks! It looks good with my shoes, see?” Willy lifts his leg in a really awkward position so that Freddie can see his shoe.

There’s a bit of blue satin fabric escaping Willy’s front jacket pocket. Freddie can see a faint outline of a cityscape surrounded by water. 

**

“Willy and Kappy are here!” Auston belts towards the living room when he opens the door. The very large man pulls Willy into a hug and wishes both of them a happy new year before giving them beers. Fred gives a little nod as they all walk over to the couch. 

“Fellas,” Auston slurs before shoving game controllers into Kappy’s general direction.

“Thanks bud,” Kappy says as he grabs them before they drop to the ground and hands one to Willy. 

Willy falls onto the couch next to Freddie.

“Hi stranger,” Willy says in a low voice that only Freddie can hear. Not that Auston would hear anyways because he is already so plastered. 

“Kaps are you good with NHL?!” Auston asks really close to Kappy’s ear. 

“Sure. But you’re going down motherfucka.” It’s fine though because Kappy will match his state in about 40 minutes. 

Right on schedule, about an hour later, Kappy has transitioned to lounging on the floor. He’s yelling at Freddie to stop scoring so much because he is a goalie after all, and that just goes against his nature. 

“Kasperi, I have neighbours. Shut the fuck up.” 

“They are probably as wasted as we are, Fred. Doesn’t matter,” Auston says. 

“Freddie why is your apartment so hot? I am melting,” Willy screeches as he fans himself.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Freddie says. Auston suddenly tries to tackle Kappy on the ground, but he stubs his toe on the coffee table and falls on top of him instead, groaning in pain.

“Auston, I can’t breath!” Kappy croaks.

“A walk sounds like a great idea,” Willy says.

**

They are both bundled up, with scarves up to their noses, as they walk down the quiet streets around Freddie’s apartment. 

“5 minutes until midnight,” Freddie announces.

“Have any new year’s resolutions?” Willy asks. 

“A few. I wanted to take a couple qualification courses to teach gym.”

“That would be cool. You could coach the hockey team.”

“If I did, maybe you could volunteer at the school and teach with me?” 

“Are you being for real?” Willy stops walking. 

“Of course, why not.” They both smile at each other and Willy hides his face a little in his jacket. But Freddie’s not foolish, he can see that Willy is blushing. 

“I’ve been thinking about new year’s resolutions too,” Willy says.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Like about what you said the other day, to take more risks.” Willy looks up at Freddie with his warm blue eyes. It’s dark out, but nothing takes the light out of them, not ever. “I think there is something that could make me really happy. I just don’t know if it can happen. But I’d like to try.” 

Freddie just nods and keeps looking at Willy.

“What time is it now?” Willy asks. 

Freddie pulls out his phone. He nearly drops it because his hands are a little shaky and gloves are hard, but Willy steadies them. Freddie looks down at the home screen.

“11:59.”

“Great, I love fireworks!” Willy says. He starts looking around in the sky, waiting to see a glimpse of something. Not long after, they start hearing crackling and booming. Willy’s face flashes green and then red. He’s giddy and is practically jumping up and down with joy. And then he grabs Freddie’s hand. 

“Freddie.”

When Freddie turns around, Willy puts his hands on Freddie’s chest and his quick small breaths make misty smoke around Freddie’s face. Freddie puts his hands on Willy’s face. And then Willy is kissing him. Freddie wraps his arms around his waist and they stay like that for a while. 

“Happy New Year,” Freddie says when they finally pull away.

“Is this what you want too?” Willy mumbles into Freddie’s sleeve. 

“There’s nothing I want more,” Freddie answers.


End file.
